Apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts

Abstract

A method of and an apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts are adapted to use molding units to seal with molded resin materials electronic parts that are mounted on lead frames. Additional molding units are detachably mounted with respect to an already provided first molding unit in the molding apparatus, so that the number of the molding units can be arbitrarily adjusted. In this manner, the method and apparatus can be easily reconfigured or rearranged to be adapted to mass production or small production runs of the same or different types of molded parts. By simultaneously carrying out various process steps, the overall process time is reduced.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts, comprising: a first molding unit having a mold, resin material supply pots arranged in said mold, resin pressurizing plungers provided on said pots, cavities provided in mold surfaces of said mold, and resin passages arranged between said pots and said cavities;   means for supplying unsealed lead frames having electronic parts mounted thereon and resin tablets into said molding unit;   means for taking out said electronic parts from said molding unit to the exterior after said electronic parts have been sealed; and   additional ones of said molding unit that are detachably mountable with respect to said first molding unit, thereby freely and selectively increasing or decreasing the number of said molding units mounted together in said apparatus.   
     
     
       2. The apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for supplying said unsealed lead frames having electronic parts mounted thereon and said resin tablets into each said molding unit includes:   a supply unit for supplying a number of unsealed lead frames having electronic parts mounted thereon,   a lead frame aligning unit for aligning said unsealed lead frames with each other along a prescribed direction,   a resin tablet supply unit,   a resin tablet discharge unit for discharging said resin tablets in alignment with each other, and   a loader unit for transferring said lead frames in alignment with each other and said resin tablets to each said molding unit,   and wherein said means for taking out said electronic parts from each said molding unit to the exterior includes:   an unloader unit for taking out said lead frames after said electronic parts have been sealed,   a mold cleaner unit,   a sealed lead frame transfer unit,   a degating unit for removing gates from said lead frames,   a pickup unit for picking up said lead frames independently of each other after said gates have been removed, and   a lead frame storage unit for storing said lead frames independently of each other after said lead frames have been picked up,   and wherein said apparatus further comprises a controller for continuously and automatically controlling respective operations of said units.   
     
     
       3. The apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first molding unit and said additional molding units are adapted to mold resin for sealing different types of products respectively. 
     
     
       4. An apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts, comprising: a molding unit having a pair of mold sections, resin material supply pots arranged in said mold, resin pressurizing plungers provided on said pots, cavities provided in respective mold surfaces of said mold, and resin passages arranged between said pots and said cavities;   unsealed lead frame supply means for transferring unsealed lead frames into a clearance between said pair of mold sections of said molding unit and supplying said unsealed lead frames to prescribed positions of said cavities;   resin tablet supply means including a loader unit adapted to advance into and retract out of said clearance for transferring resin tablets into said clearance between said pair of mold sections of said molding unit and supplying said resin tablets into said pots;   mold closing means for closing said pair of mold sections in said molding unit;   sealed lead frame takeout means including an unloader unit adapted to advance into and retract out of said clearance for taking out said lead frames from said pair of mold sections to the exterior after said lead frames have been sealed;   mold surface cleaning means for cleaning said respective mold surfaces of said pair of mold sections; and   means for simultaneously retracting said unloader unit from and advancing said loader unit into said clearance between said pair of mold sections.   
     
     
       5. The apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts in accordance with claim 4, wherein said mold surface cleaning means is interlocked with said sealed lead frame takeout means, so that said mold surface cleaning means carries out said cleaning of said mold surfaces simultaneously with said sealed lead frame takeout means taking out said sealed lead frames. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus for molding resin to seal electronic parts in accordance with claim 4, wherein said loader unit and said unloader unit are interlocked to each other for simultaneously retracting said unloader unit from and advancing said loader unit into said clearance.